03/27/07 The budget and the Farm Bill

Farm and Ranch March 27, 2007 The number of dollars available for the 2007 Farm Bill are beginning to materialize in the fiscal year 2008 budget resolutions making their way through congress. The full Senate has already passed its resolution and the House is soon expected to follow. The Senate passed budget resolution includes 15 billion dollars over five years for agriculture above the Congressional Budget Office baseline. The resolution the House will vote on includes 20 billion above the baseline. But in both cases Jennifer Spurgat, a lobbyist with the National Association of Wheat Growers, says the additional dollars are in reserve funds and use of that money requires an off-set in spending or additional revenue. Spurgat: "We are pleased that we are not just stuck with the CBO baseline that was released in March. We do have a little concern obviously regarding the issue of offsets or not increasing the deficit, which that reserve account will require. But since wheat growers have been advocating for just some minor changes in the 02 bill to make things equitable for wheat growers, we are hoping we can work with congress to find an adequate way to increase the safety and use some of that reserve fund." The National Association of Wheat Growers and other groups have been advocating for an increased budget allocation, which most observers argue is the most important thing in determining the details of the next farm bill. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.